Senator for WA Scott Ludlam said Dr Jensen's push for Australia to acquire nuclear submarines and to turn Western Australia into a "high-traffic service station" for American nuclear vessels was "counter-factual and dangerous".

"Successive governments have indulged in a series of expensive debacles chasing military hardware - the Member for Tangney wants to continue that dubious tradition by pursuing second-hand American nuclear submarines.

With Japanese Authorities declaring the worsening situation at Fukushima an "emergency", Labor candidate for Perth Alannah MacTiernan has made a baffling pitch for nuclear power to stay in contention for Australia's energy mix.

The Australian Greens have called for hundreds of Australian soldiers who were exposed to radiation from British nuclear bomb testing in the 1950s and ‘60s to automatically receive Veterans' Gold Card health care.

"Between 1952 and 1963, more than 16,000 Australian civilians and serviceman were exposed to nuclear fallout when British nuclear weapons were tested at the Montebello Islands in Western Australia, Maralinga and Emu fields in South Australia, and over the Christmas and Malden Islands," spokesperson Assisting on Defence, Senator Scott Ludlam said.